Rebels on Pointe
REBELS ON POINTE, documentary, not rated, Jean Cocteau Cinema, 3 chiles
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the comic drag ballet company appearing at the Lensic Performing Arts Center on Jan. 23, is the focus of Bobbi Jo Hart’s new documentary, Rebels on Pointe. Drag queens, who play an important role in gay history and life, carry as a group a reputation for booze-fueled, over-the-top lip-sync performances at gay bars, as well as for their bitchy backstabbing — as evidenced on TV’s long-running RuPaul’s Drag Race. Les Ballets Trockadero, founded in 1974, is in another league. These dancers may be flamboyant, but their brand of comedy relies on a proficiency in pointe shoes and in ballet technique itself that requires years of classical training. They’re the real deal.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo began in New York City, not long after the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village helped give birth to the gayliberation movement. The film traces the growth of the company from its beginnings in a loft with three performers into a touring group with a cult following in Japan and appearances in opera houses and other venues around the world. “They use their masculinity to say something about femininity,” says Mary Brennan, a dance critic for Scotland’s The Herald ,in the film. “Their pointe work has a different edge,” adds Gia Kourlas, who writes frequently about dance for The New York Times. “They reveal the steel and stamina involved in the technique.” There is a delicacy as well as power in their approach, a male take on traditionally female roles. “They own that edge,” she said.
“We’re not a gay company — we don’t have a political agenda — even though we are all gay,” says Tory Dobrin, the group’s artistic director, and one of its early dancers. “But we’ve exposed millions around the world to a gay sensibility, and we’ve done it with a lot of talent and good cheer.” James Whiteside, a star with the American Ballet Theatre who also has a drag persona, Ühu Betch, which he brings out in his spare time, offers his admiration of the Trocks. “It’s a balance between high art and clever camp. I don’t know how they do it,” he says. “There’s so much talent. I play princes in love with ballerinas [at ABT]. Every role I am playing is counter to my nature. It’s strange sometimes, and also very challenging. Every once in a while I get to dance with a dude, and it’s hot!”
“We tend to attract ‘out there’ gay guys to the company,” Dobrin says. “These are guys used to getting flack from society, even in the ballet world. They come to us with walls up and with baggage. My goal is to create a safe environment for them. I tell new dancers, ‘You don’t have to fit in, but you do have to function.’ ”
The film follows several of the dancers to their hometowns, including to rural South Carolina and a small town in northern Italy. Many of the dancers’ mothers are interviewed, and they obviously grew to be proud of their sons, despite the realities of their work. “My first pair of pointe shoes was a secret,” says Robert “Bobby” Carter, an African-American dancer and star of the company. “I always knew I was different,” says Carlos Hopuy from Cuba. “My mom was a prima ballerina and she trained me. I kind of dance like her.” Hopuy’s mother said he was too small to become a member of the National Ballet of Cuba, so he came to New York and found his way to the Trocks.
“My mom put me in dance class to protect me,” says Chase Johnsey from Florida. Johnsey is married to one of the other dancers in the company. There are three such couples in the group. “We’re a family,” he said. “The audience can tell we like each other. Our good energy shoots out into the theater. It’s electric.”
The Trockadero dancers are shown presenting their versions of tulle-and-toe-shoes ballets including
Swan Lake and Giselle. At first glance, they seem to offer classic images of feminine beauty, but the hairy chests, man-sized shoulders, and size-13 pointe shoes on stage — not to mention the overdone makeup — indicate something is seriously subverted. The dancing is fluid but always slightly exaggerated. Still, the dancers not only execute crisply airborne beats with lovely soft landings, and glorious leaps and turns, they also offer the subtler precision of
épaulement, the upper body placement. Ballet aficionados can appreciate many in-jokes with regard to the Trocks’ presentation — as a slightly seedy Russian touring company modeled after the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which once traveled extensively, representing its own idiosyncratic version of ballet. Everyone, however, can appreciate the comedy that quickly comes from facial expressions, pratfalls, and sight gags. “Should there be jokes or no jokes? That’s always the pull,” Dobrin says. “Why not have both?”
“With the Trocks, the intimidation factor is down,” Brennan says. “When audiences can laugh at swans falling over, they get permission that doesn’t come very often in the theater.”
Rebels on Pointe offers a successful blend of class, rehearsal, and performance scenes; interviews; and candid looks at the dancers with their makeup off. What was once a shocking proposition, men on pointe, has evolved, along with the acceptance of gay culture in society. What is left for audiences today is a simple joy — laughter and dancing.